1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device wafer processing method of processing a device wafer having a plurality of devices formed on the front side, each device having an adhesion disliking region disliking the adhesion to an adhesive tape.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a semiconductor device fabrication process, a plurality of crossing division lines called streets are formed on the front side of a substantially disk-shaped semiconductor wafer such as a silicon wafer and a gallium arsenide wafer to thereby define a plurality of separate regions where a plurality of devices such as ICs and LSIs are respectively formed.
The back side of such a semiconductor wafer is ground by a grinding apparatus to reduce the thickness of the semiconductor wafer to a predetermined thickness. Thereafter, the semiconductor wafer is divided into individual device chips by a cutting apparatus or a laser processing apparatus. These device chips are widely used in various electronic equipment such as mobile phones and personal computers. Prior to grinding the back side of the semiconductor wafer, a protective tape is attached to the front side of the semiconductor wafer, so as to protect the devices formed on the front side of the wafer. The semiconductor wafer with the protective tape is held under suction through the protective tape on a chuck table included in the grinding apparatus, and the back side of the wafer held on the chuck table is ground by a grinding unit included in the grinding apparatus.